Education

Published by the Orthodox Church in America, March 9, 2005

New OCA Christian Education Department web site goes "live"

SYOSSSET, NY [OCA Communications] — Concurrent with the release of the new Orthodox Church in America web site on March 2, 2005, the redesigned and greatly expanded web site of the Department of Christian Education also made its debut.

Easily accessed from the OCA home page at www.oca.org or directly at dce.oca.org, the site contains a variety of new features and study resources, said Mrs. Alexandra Safchuk, interim department chairperson, who worked closely with Mr. John Pusey and other department members to update the site.

Among the highlights:

At the request of many readers, lesson plans for FOCUS Curriculum units have been added. Lesson plans for the existing FOCUS units, "Journey to Pascha" and "The Nativity Season," are slated to appear in the near future.

A new study unit on the Great Feasts of the Theotokos, including a session on various icons of the Virgin Mary, is now available.

"My Orthodox Family" is a newly written study unit on the growth of Orthodox Christianity in North America and our lives as Orthodox Christians today.

The mini-study units, including "Champions of Faith," "Sharing the Good News: Orthodox Christian Mission," and " Rsponding to God's gifts: Orthodox Christian Stewardship," have been updated. Also in the mini-units section are parish-wide educational resources on repentance and forgiveness and evangelism. Parish-wide units provide in-depth explorations of a specific topic in a single session for all age levels.

Expanded teacher supplemental resources and background information on study topics are also available. Department members plan to expand this area on an ongoing basis, while a specific search function is being developed to make this area of the site more user-friendly.

The new "DCE Connection" enables readers to submit questions for discussion to department members. In addition to Mrs. Safchuk and Mr. Pusey, other department members currently working on the site include Bev Cingolani, Tamara Cowan, Pat Harrison, Vicki Jones, Myra Kovalak, Daria Petrykowski, Maria Proch, Jewelann Stefanar, Valerie Zahirsky, and Christine Zebrun.

Mrs. Safchuk added that the department is gathering names and e-mail addresses of those interested in Christian education to create a database to disseminate announcements on new materials and resources. Church school teachers and other interested individuals are asked to send their contact information to christianeducation@oca.org.

Plans for the immediate future include development of a new FOCUS unit on monasticism, slated to appear in July 2005, and fuller participation in the Orthodox Christian Education Commission's teacher training program. Department members are also planning to expand the new site by adding out-of-print resources that had enjoyed popularity in years past.

"We hope that our new site and its many new features and resources will enhance parish educational ministries and programs," said Mrs. Safchuk. "And we are anxious for more interaction with our readers through the site."



Volume 7 Number 11 - Tuesday, March 15th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY